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This is a guest post from Christina Ioannidis, an international speaker, consultant and seasoned entrepreneur. Christina is the author of the recently published “Your Loss: How to Win Back Your Female Talent”. She is a thought leader on the subjects of gender-savvy leadership and talent management, employee and customer engagement, effective product development and marketing, as well as innovation and intrapreneurship.

36% of the skilled, professional women we questioned in Your Loss left the corporate environment because they did not feel fulfilled in their role. Statistics of women in business make this the biggest single push factor. Are you addressing gender stereotypes within your management team and on your board of directors? Women’s management style may not be your norm, but it could just be your saving grace. Read more about nurturing female management styles in my blog post.

2) Is flexible working or working from home considered “skiving”?

The traditional gender stereotype is that women leave the corporate environment for more flexibility to juggle work with a hectic home life. The big question is how to retain women by making remote working acceptable in your corporate culture ? First, make sure everyone is fully aware that this is a real option. Then, update your communication systems and support line managers in running their teams remotely. Finally, don’t forget to evaluate how it’s going, tweak it a bit and reward good performance. Read my blog on flexible working for more extensive hint and tips.

3) Would you promote her if you heard she wanted another child?

It’s oh-so-familiar: the stereotypical professional women in her thirties who is passed over for promotion (because the male management think things will fall apart once she goes on maternity leave). Do not underestimate the benefits of having a satisfied, loyal, long-term employee who appreciates having a great job whilst still being able to pick her kids up from school.